


A Date At the Carnival

by ultimateficarchiver



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Carnival, Dating, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-08
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultimateficarchiver/pseuds/ultimateficarchiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A very normal date for our two intrepid assassins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Date At the Carnival

**Author's Note:**

> Written for anyonesea's prompt on Tumblr: "Someone please please write a fic or drabble where Clint takes Natasha to the carnival and wins her everything because come on he’s the World’s Greatest Marksman."

Just because he could have handled the shenanigans of a corrupt carnival, didn't mean he wanted to spend his time - their time - dealing with that crap. It'd been three weeks that felt like three months (what with missions getting in the way) since their first kiss. They'd agreed to take it slow. That meant dates. So when Natasha had admitted she'd never had cotton candy, Clint immediately knew what one of their outings would be.

He didn't like to remember his circus days, but every once in awhile they came in handy. Circus, carnival - same thing really - at least in some people's eyes. This week he'd used his knowledge to find one of the more reputable carnivals. One where pickpockets wouldn't get taken out by her skills and he didn't have to worry about spotting slights of hand and nasty tricks. 

He'd had to commandeer a Quinjet for a few hours to get them to it three states away, but Coulson would cover - he owed him one.

\---

Here they were, at dusk with an almost full moon and baseball field lamps lighting the way from booth to booth. He'd gotten ahold of the layout ahead of time and made sure they came in the entrance that would allow for cotton candy to be the last stop of the night. 

They entered by the kids ride - a dragon themed coaster that went in a 30 foot oval. It was a good introduction to the noises of children screaming their fun, worried parents, crying infants in strollers, food falling to the ground, carnies calling out for attention for their booths, the faint sound of insects enjoying their own feast, and the randomness only a cluster of people in the outdoors could provide.

With jeans and t-shirts and baseball caps they fit right in. The community was big enough that some people who knew each other would run into each other, but not so small that anyone would notice newcomers and stare.

His first instinct was to place his hand at the small of her back just to be there, and okay, to be a little bit possessive, but they weren't there yet. So he stuffed both hands in the pocket of his jeans instead to control the temptation.

He spotted one of the ticket booths then. "First stop," he said as he pointed it out to her. 

They got in a line about 4 purchasers long. At first he found their silence awkward, but then he saw her face and realized it wasn't to her. She was looking around, absorbing it. Probably memorizing as much of the layout as possible in case they had to make a quick run for it - old habits die hard, you know. Though it was obvious, she didn't find their lack of conversation an issue - to her it was just them. It made him let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

Then her hand was on his arm. "Look," she pointed at the ferris wheel. "Can we do that?"

"Yeah," he said. Because "of course" and "anything you want" sounded too much like an anxious teenager to his minds ear.

It was their turn to buy tickets then. He found out how many tickets per person were needed to ride the ferris wheel and mentally made sure they would have enough for two rides. She rarely asked for anything, and he knew she'd enjoy it.

Now that the tickets were purchased, they walked aways, taking in the booths. They came to one where you had to throw darts at a very specific parts of a picture to win varying sizes of stuffed animals. She dared him with her eyes and her smile to go for it. So he did. 

He gave up the tickets for 3 darts, confirmed what components won which sizes of animals, weighed the first dart in his hands (shoddy quality to begin with, and too many kids hands over time) but he let it fly towards the picture and dang if he didn't hit the right line for a small toy.

The carnie congratulated him on great beginners luck. He turned to see Natasha's smile and her eyes alight. He paused a moment while the carnie was talking to soak it in; so happy he'd been the one to make her look that way.

The carnie's voice intruded on his mental moment, asking which prize he wanted. Clint waved his hand at her, "Whatever the lady wants," he answered. She picked a small stuffed bear. 

"Two more shots," the carnie prompted after handing over the beige bear to her.

He studied the remaining darts, then shot one after the other, hitting the lines for a medium sized and a large sized toy in succession.

He had to admit the carnie was good natured about it as Natasha picked more prizes, but the "don't come back" was clearly communicated to Clint.

\---

Natasha obviously hadn't planned for how to carry around 3 stuffed animals, one bigger than her, when she'd induced him into the throwing game. So when a kid came up to her and requested the biggest bear, she gave it up without objection. Then of course, the younger brother of the child wanted a stuffed animal too, and she gave over the medium sized toy.

The parents expressed their gratitude to Clint, the presents having stemmed a fit for sure. They tried to pay him for them, but he waved them off. 

The elder child asked for the remaining little beige bear for their youngest sibling, the girl with a sippy cup in a stroller, but Natasha, in a moment of channeling someone who knew how to deal with children, pointed out how their sister couldn't hold her cup and the bear at the same time and they wouldn't want her to loose it now would they. Somehow that made complete sense to the child and they said their goodbyes and went on their way.

"You could have let them have that one too," Clint admitted.

"No," she stated. "This one is mine."

He couldn't help smiling at the possessiveness in her voice. It was the same tone she used for her favorite weapons.

Their next stop was the three-story slide. They waited in line, and sat on the bags provided to them when it was their turn. The bear in her right hand, Natasha placed her left hand in front him palm up in invitation. He placed his hand in hers and they took off. The two teenagers next to them as they slide down screamed, and she looked straight ahead, but he stared at her. The momentum blew her hair back away from her face. She squeezed his hand as they hit the second fall, and then she closed her eyes and looked as close to at peace as he'd ever seen her.

As most good things in their lives happened, it was over too fast. He asked her if she wanted to go again, but she shook her head. "Time for the ferris wheel," she declared. 

He held out his hand dramatically as if he was a butler inviting her into a mansion, and waited for her to take the first step over to the ride. She laughed. It was the best thing he'd heard all month.

\---

When they got to the front of the line and stepped up the stairs to be seated Clint handed over the tickets, and she slid into the seat first. He slid in next to her, and the carnie for the ferris wheel buckled in the bar restraint before moving their cart forward.

As journeys three stories into the air went, it was mediocre for them given their day jobs, but as the climax of a date without violence or a SHIELD interruption it was pretty sweet. 

Their comfortable silence continued.

\---

Finally it was their turn to disembark and he lead her to the food stand where they had cotton candy. In the best of carnival traditions, it was pink.

He bought her some and handed it over. She awkwardly bit into it, getting some on her nose and cheeks and chin. He couldn't help the laugh. She kicked at his chin, but pretty purposely missed. 

"Here let me hold the bear," he said, reaching out for it.

"Promise to give it back?"

"Promise," he stated, taking the bear. "Over there, that kid has the right idea," Clint motioned with his head.

She wiped off her face with a napkin from the nearby stand and studied the kid Clint had indicated like she was learning a new move in the gym. Just another face of hers Clint memorized that evening.

Quickly, she got with the program, tearing off a piece with her fingers and eating it, then tearing off another. When she was done and had thrown away the paper cone, she held out her hand for the bear. He handed it back, but didn't expect that she would grab his wrist and pull him to her. When she reached up to place a hand on his neck and pull him to her though he got with the program quickly.

Their lips met almost chastely. He couldn't help sliding his tongue along her bottom lip, requesting entrance, which she granted. He could still taste the pink sugar from the candy on her tongue. It was a sweet kiss, not hasty or inappropriate for the venue. The world just narrowed to the two of them for a moment.

Slowly, Clint pulled away, his hands on her hips. He shook his head to clear it, trying to remember where they were. "Want to ride the ferris wheel again?" he asked.

"Okay," she said, taking his hand and leading him back to the line.


End file.
